Garage door



2111.521941.A b cp; ALLEN l 2,244,182

GARAGE DOOR Filed April 20. 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 faz- 1 1D s L f ATTRNEY Julie 3, 1941 c. E. ALLEN 2,244,182

GARAGE DQOR Filed April zo. 1940 zsheetsnaet z \\\\\\\\Y///////\\\\\\\\\y///////MIl ml IHr\\\\\\\\\I/////////\\\\\ to a horizontalposition,

ment of parts that will Patented June 3, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE GARAGE DOGR Charles E. Allen, Arvada', Colo. Application April20, 1940, Serial No. 330,701

6 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in garage doors and mechanismsfor operating the same.

It is getting to be quite common to provide garage doors that open by anupward and inward movement, which moves the door from a vertical as suchdoors leave the entire door opening clear and do not require anyadditional space either inside or outside of the garage.

As an example of such a door and the mechanisms for openings and closingthe same, reference is made to patent numbered 2,164,648, granted July4, 1939, in which a door operating in a manner analogous to thatdescribed in the present invention, has been shown.

It is the object of this invention to produce a door operating mechanismthat can be assembled in the factory and secured to the door jambs bybolts or screws in such a way that the garage door can readily beattached thereto.

Another object is to provide mechanism for opening and closing garagedoors that can be manufactured without the employment of any expensiveand special machinery and which can therefore be manufactured at acomparatively small cost.

A further object of this invention is to produce a door operatingmechanism that can be operated either manually or by means of anelectric motor.

The above and other objects that may become apparent as this descriptionproceeds are attained by means of a combination and arrangebe nowdescribed in detail and for this purpose reference will be had to theaccompanying drawings in which the invention has been illustrated in itspreferred form and in which:

Figure 1 is an end elevation of a garage showing the door in openposition;

Figure 2 is a section taken on line 2-2, Figure 1, .and shows the doorin closed position;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary view showing the spring employed to cushionthe closing movement of the door;

Figure l is a fragmentary section similar to that shown in Figure 4 butshowing a slightly modiiled construction.

In the drawings reference numeral I0 designates the two vertical doorjambs and reference numeral II designates the oor of a garage, whilereference numeral I2 designates that portion of the garage wall directlyabove the 'door opening.

The mechanism to which this invention relates consists of twosubstantially identical assemblies, one of which is a right and theother `a left. Since the mechanism on opposite sides of the door openingare duplicates, except as to the matter above mentioned, only one of theassemblies will be described herein.

Each assembly consists of a steel is secured to the door jamb by meansof screws or bolts Il. Carried by the plate I3 are three pivots whichhave been identified from bottom to top by reference numerals I5, I6 andI1. Pivot I1 has a roller I8 mounted thereon and will be referred to asa guide member. The roller I8 plate I3 that serves merely as a frictionlimiting means and so far as the invention is concerned may be omitted.Pivoted to the lowermost pivot I5 is a link I9 that is shown as providedwith a longitudinally extending slot 20. The lower end of link 20 isattached to a bracket 2|, carried by the door, by means of a pivot pin22. Secured to the intermediate pivot (pivot IG) is a second link whichhas been designated by reference numeral 23. This link is shorter thanlink I9 and is slidably and pivotedly connected to the latter by meansof a bolt or pin 24. It is now apparent that links I9 and 23 can besimultaneously rotated about their pivots and whenever these links arerotated the pin 2l will slide along the slot 20. The slot and pinconnection shown are illustrative only and it is to be understood thatany equivalent means can be substituted.-

A third link which has been designated by reference numeral 25 ispivotally attached at its lower end to link 23, theattaching means beingindicated by reference numeral 26. The position of the pivot V2li can bevaried dependent upon the position of other parts and it is to beunderstood that applicant does not intend to be limited to the exactrelative position shown in the drawings.

Link 25 normally rests one edge against the roller I8 and is provided atits upper end with a U-shaped slide 21 which is attached to the link 25by means of a pivot 28. The link 25 may extend above the pivot 28 in themanner shown in it may also terminate at the indicated in Figure '1. Adoor Figures 4 and 5 but pivot in the manner 29 is provided at itslower' end with a bracket 2l to which the lower end of link I9 ispivoted in the manner shown in the drawings. The edge of the door ismounted to slide in the U-shaped member 2l. The door is provided at itslower end with a handle 39 and a cable 3| is shown as attached to theupper end of link 25 and as passing over a pulley 32. This cable may beattached to the door in the manner shown in Figure l and whichever ofthese constructions is considered to be the most desirable can beemployed. A compression spring 33 has been shown as positioned betweenthe pivots I5 and 24. A bracket 34 is attached to the link I9 adjacentto the pivot I5 and pivot 24 extends through an eye 35 in the end of arod 36 whose other end extends through an opening in bracket 34. Thepurpose of the rod 36 is to prevent the spring from buckling dur- Withthe arrangement shown the force exerted by spring 33 is least eiectivefor turning the door when the latter is in closed position, due to thefact that the line of force extends through pivots I5 and I6. It is alsopossible so to adjust ythe parts that the force exerted by the springwhen the door is in closed position will tend to hold the door closed;this can be accomplished by so arranging the parts that pivots I4, I5and I 6 will form an over-set toggle when. the door is closed.

Although the device has been shown as provided with a compressionspring, positioned for operating in the manner above described, it isevident that a tension spring can be substituted, in which case it canbe positioned between pivots 22 and 24 or between pivots I1 and 26. Itis to be understood, therefore, that applicant does not desire to belimited to the specic position of his spring 33 but expects tosubstitute an equivalent arrangement if this should prove to bedesirable.

Referring now in particular to Figure 7, it will be seen that instead ofthe U-shaped slide 21, between the sides of which the edge oli the dooris positioned, the upper end of link 25 has pivotally attached to it atubular crosshead 36 that is slidably connected with a rod 3T' which issecured to the door by means of bracket 38. With this arrangement theedge of the door can t snugly against the door jamb and the cable 3I canbe secured to the door in manner shown instead of to the upper end oflink 25. Withthis construction it is. possible to produce a closer fitbetween the door and the door jamb than with the construction previouslydescribed.

Bearing in mind that the door is provided with two operating mechanisms,one at each end thereof, in the manner shown in Figure 1, we shall nowdescribe the operation of opening and closing the door.

Let us assume that the door is in closed position, as shown in Figure 2,the operator grasps the handle 39 and moves the door upwardly andoutwardly, whereupon it moves gradually into the position shown inFigure 4 and from thence to the final open position shown in Figure 5.During the opening operation'link 25 has one edge resting on the rollerI8 and remains in contact with this roller during the entire operation.It will be seen that only one roller is employed on each side of thedoor and that this guides the link 25 in such a way as to' bring thedoor when fully opened to a position that is substantially horizontal.

Instead of opening the door by exerting force on the handle 39 theoperator may exert a pulling force on handle 40 at the end of cable 3|,whereupon the force thus exerted will cause the parts to pivot on theroller I8 as the fulcrum and this in turn will move the door into thepositions shown in Figures 4 and 5. It is'to be observed that as thedoor opens the spring 33 expands and the force of this spring thereforeserves to assist the opening movement and conversely it will help tocushion the shock which would otherwise result when the door is moved toclosed position.

In the drawings the three pivots I5, I6 and II are arranged in avertical line but this is not an essential consideration'because it ispossible to move the pivot I'I farther to the left than as shown inFigure 4, which may be desirable in some instances. The pivot 26 canalso be consolidated with pivot 24 and substantially the same resultsobtained. The exact position of these pivots may be as shown in thedrawings or may be slightly altered therefrom under certain conditions,and applicant therefore reserves the right to make such changes as maybe indicated as desirableV and which fall within the scope of theappended claims.

From the above description it will be apparent. that the inventionherein described and illustrated on the drawings is very simple; that iteliminates the necessity of an over-head track; that it requires only asingle roller at each side and that the parts can 4be made from flatstock such as is procurable from any steel mill. Y

Where it is desirable to operate thel door hy means of an electric motorsome suitable elecand January 7, 1936.

Having described the invention what is claimed as new is:

l. A garage door opening and closing device comprising in combination, abase having three spaced pivots arranged in substantial alignment. alink connected with one end pivot. a second link pivotally connectedwith the intermediate pivot and both slidably and pivotally connectedwith the rst link, a third link pivotally connected w ith the secondlink and slidably connected with the third pivot, a door pivotallyconnected with the free end of the rst link, and means for slidably andpivotally connecting the end of the third link to the door whereby anassembly is formed in which the door will move from a vertical to asubstantially horizontal position when it is raised.

2. A garage door opening and closing mechanism comprising incombination, a base having two spaced pivots and a pivoted rollerarranged in substantial alignment, a link having one end attached to theend pivot, a second and shorter link attached at one end to the pivotadjacent v the roller, means for slidably attaching the other end ofsaid second link to the rst link. A third link having one end pivoted tothe second link and one edge resting on the roller, a door having oneend-pivotally connected with the end of the rst link and means forpivotally-and slidably connecting the other end ot the third link withthe free end ofi-the door.

3. A garage door opening and closing mechanism comprising incombination, a base having three pivots arranged in substantial verticalalignment, the upper pivot forming a guide. A link having one endattached to the lowermost pivot, a second and shorter link attached atone end to the intermediate pivot the other end being slidably andpivotally attached to the rst link, a third link pivotally attached atits lower end to the second link, one edge of the third link resting onthe upper or guide pivot, a door pivotally attached adjacent its lowerend, to the free end of the first link, and means for slidablyandpivotally attaching the upper end of the third link with the doorwhereby the door can be raised and lowered while the third link remainsin contact with the guide.

4. A garage door opening and closing mechanism comprising incombination, a base having three vertically spaced pivots projectingfrom one side thereof, the upper pivot forming a guide, a link havingone end connected with the lowermost pivot, a second and shorter linkhaving one end attached to the intermediate pivot and the other endslidably and pivotally connected with the rst link, a third link havingits lower end pivotally attached to the second link and slidablyassociated with the guide, a door, a pivotal connection between thefirst link and one end of the door, and means for effecting a pivotaland slidable connection between the other end of the door and the freeend of the third link.

5. In a garage door construction, the combination of a single rigid doorsection, a guide member at each side of the door-way, two ver ticallyspaced pivots positioned below the guide member, the upper pivot beingpositioned some distance below the guide member. a link having one endattached to the lower pivot and the other end pivoted to the door nearthe lower end thereof, a second link attached at one end to the upperpivot, means for slidably and pivotally attaching the free end of thesecond link to the first link whereby both links may move simultaneouslyabout their spaced pivots, a, third link having its r combination, abase having a guide member near its top and two pivots positioned belowthe guide member, said pivots being spaced unequal distances from theguide member, two links, each having one end movably attached/to apivot, the link attached to the lower pivot being the longer, means forslidably and pivotally attaching the free end of the shortest link tothe longerfwhereby the two links may move simultaneously about theirpivots, the two links and a line joining the pivots forming a triangleone side of which varies in length, a third link pivoted to the secondlink and slidably associated with the guide member, a door pivotallyattached at its lower end to the free end of the iirst mentioned longerlink and slidably and pivotally connected with the free end of the thirdlink, the several links and the door, including the lines joining thepivots and the line joining one pivot with the guide, forming aplurality of distortable triangles each having one side of variablelengths.

CHARLES E. ALLEN.

